I am a Visiting Assistant Professor in Sociology and in Public Health at New Mexico State University. I’m currently teaching Sociology of Health and Medicine, Wellness in Society, American Diet & Fitness Cultures, Sports in Society, Food in Society, Personal Health and Wellness, and Human Sexuality.

Research

My research explores the social and cultural history of dieting, longevity, wellness, and alternative medicine and the social construction of scientific expertise. My first book, Health Freaks: America’s Diet Champions and the Specter of Chronic Illness (published with UNC Press in Fall 2024), provides a critical cultural history of American fad diets, their colorful creators, and devoted followers. It also turns the conventional narrative of American dieting on its head by examining diets, not through the familiar discourse of weight loss, but through the lens of alternative medicine and the history of social and political movements. By examining the social mechanics powering the erosion of trust in conventional scientific and medical expertise and the growing faith in high-powered fringe theories, Health Freaks sheds new light on some of the most pressing and intractable public health issues of our time.

My latest research explores similar issues from a different angle by scrutinizing the financial and personal relationships between the food and chemical industries, academic nutrition departments, and the fierce anti-quackery stance of the medical establishment. Looking to the future, my next big project will examine the culture of wellness in and around Silicon Valley, tracing its influence on the architects and architecture of the web and the ensuing propagation of heterodox health beliefs online.